Romancing the Black Ball (Gantz Isekai)
by SupasouljaX
Summary: An American Chemistry scholar gets caught up in the fun of Gantz! Watch as he stumbles around galactic invasions, gang conflicts, vampire hunting and relationship drama. Some characters inspired by Black Lagoon, Jurmangand, Ghost in the Shell or Ego Proxy.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer I don't own Gantz or any Media associated with it, Black Lagoon, Jormungand or any others. This project is for my and your entertainment.

I was on my way home and in an excellent mood. Our team the, Green Rockets had smashed the ever loving shit out of the guest team, the visiting Taisho Dragons. The crowd was cheering and many people were drinking beers and carrying on. Some people had even carried a few of my team mates around on their shoulders. They had tried to look for me, but I had seen it coming and dipped into the dugout once the game clock had hit the 2 minute mark. I had to hide in the dugout until the rowdies calmed down a bit and due to my being a American blending into the crowd out of uniform was out of the question. One of the oddest parts of the event was the large amount of fairly open drinking at a high school-college league game, as most of the people there weren't over 20.

I mean it was strange because the image I had of "proper" Japanese young people didn't match up to the realities. If one was to go by manga all of them were just as properly polite as can be and never cussed, drank, had premarital sex and were obsessed with nothing but getting good grades. The reality of the matter is that about 1/3 of the young people here were borderline drunk and 1/2 of the rest were at least buzzed. There were a few, in the back smoking what smelled like chronic and I'm sure there were a few shrooms available if one had a taste for them. The truth of the matter was that while many of them were obsessed with finding good employment and most Japanese valued open politeness; they could be as nasty in both the mean spirited and freakishly deviant sense of the world as anyone else.

"Yasu!?..Where is Yasu?. Did he run off again?" hollered Isaki Dombachi, our shortstop having just been released from the shoulders of the crowd. There were a few dirty finger prints on his uniform including around his posterior.

"I haven't seen Yasu kun since the last run. I'm sure he hasn't gone home, he said he would join us for a drink at Miko's. He's probably hiding until the mob disperses" replied Oda Nobehada our primary batter. We called call him Nobu san in reference to his supposed ancestor Oda Nobunaga the unifier of Japan (or at least one of the 3). He was one of my better if not best friend, who was unfortunately responsible for my nickname by association. See Yasuke was the first black samurai, as Oda Nobunaga had taken him off some Jesuits who had enslaved him. He fought in some battles for about 2 years before Nobunaga's betrayal and the ebony warriror had vanished into history.

"Doesn't he like the adoration of the crowd? Or is it he still scared of Japanese girls? He does know all the freaky cute ones will already have left with the real men. Does he want to stay a virgin?" followed Joseke Kimpachi, our right infielder and our team's supposed ladies man. In truth I'd rather not have my buns pinched by half drunk teen girls and the occasional forty year old man. I'd found out "its not freaky or improper if no one can see you do it" is the name of the game around these parts.

"In which case you might as well be in another province with how long you'll be waiting to lose your cherry, wont you? Yasu kun's mitt is here, with the game ball inside which means he is changing in the shower room". Good old Nobu, good for a laugh and covering my ass. It's not that I mind the occasional pat on the behind in the locker room or on the field. It's the fact these fans take things a bit too far. I mean I understand that not many Black Americans or Black people in general are in Japan, but why did everyone want to touch me?

They knew it would offend me to do so to my face, but if I couldn't see them because they are beneath me in crowd it suddenly became alright in their minds. It's not even mostly women who have pinched my behind. As often as we do win I have learned a good routine to avoid the worst of it and I'll come out with the team and shake a few hands and maybe sign an autograph. Yes I'll sign autographs at a sub college level baseball game, because any Black American athlete that is playing in Japan must be famous and important right?. At least the locals have stopped asking me if I'm a basketball star, or gods forgive them gangster rapper.

Though to be fair under different circumstances and a less commercialist world I might be considered a minor celebrity, but not because I am a fairly good pitcher in pre- collegiate level baseball. I didn't even get a sports scholarship, though I probably could, I play baseball because I like it. Everyone seems to look at my 5.8 height and forget I finished high school at age 16 and got a damn near full scholarship to Princeton for chemistry. I was in Japan because I am somewhat of an Otaku and Japanophile and I lucked out in terms of US Japanese politics. See there was some big political scandal and a good way to "improve cross Atlantic" relations was to foster cultural exchange. In ancient times those dignitaries and their children were basically hostages, in these days it meant glorified working vacations.

I was especially lucky that I was black, yes affirmative action favors the prepared. They needed Americans pronto and quickly ran through a checklist of who would best suit the look they were going for. Apparently there were very few students of color who both excelled in chemistry and were interested in going to Japan and far fewer who had already graduate high school at 16. Being better than average at baseball and speaking/writing Japanese was a bonus. The best part of it was since I had already finished high school I wouldn't have to attend in Japan. Oh the Japanese were sneaky I would get an apartment coincidentally near 3 of their schools with the best chemistry departments and what amounted to free access to their labs and libraries.

I would also get a small stipend to live off and a work permit so I might gain additional funds. Such a permit was excellent for employment in the chemistry labs in said schools or in nearby law enforcement labs (yeah real subtle). It had been a hard sell to get my parents to sign off on letting me live by myself, however they knew how driven and responsible I was.

Not like it wasn't even the first time I had lived for a few months away from home, those would be the baseball or science camps I attended when I was younger. However, once that hurdle was leaped I was basically in what for me was paradise. I was being paid to play baseball, run lab experiments, read manga and play video games. Though I do occasionally work; unless I decide to be wasteful or greedy I could easily live off what I received from the government and occasionally my family and have enough left over to have fun.

Yes, it was a wonderful life at least so far. I emerged from hiding as I thought it was about time to join in with my friends as the mellowing sounds of the crowd outside our locker room indicated the threat to my dignity (and the soft skin around my posterior) was safe at least from anyone not on my team.

"So have our furry friends returned to their lairs?" I asked in a mock commentary in my best Steve Erwin voice. I'd notice for some reason He is really popular in Japan despite being dead for a few years.

"Yasu please don't disparage our lovely supporters in that way" Nobu mildly mock scolded. He was one of the first to basically tell me it came with the territory. Though he did not receive quite as many uninvited hands as I did.

"Well he isn't wrong about how they act when fresh, young succulent meat is present". Kinpachi deadpanned while rubbing his naked posterior, which actually did display a number of slightly feminine sized hand prints.

"I'm honestly surprised all of you came back to get changed with how the lionesses were prowling. (lionesses being our slang for said cougars and M.I.L.F's who seemed to be disproportionately present). I figured a few of you would have skipped off to score another home run". Came my sardonic quip. Which was a rather obvious euphemism for fornication.

"Hey the ladies can wait, till after we celebrate at Miko's, Sake is on me. By the way I gotta say that 3rd inning shut out was a masterpiece" said Konade Otsumaira our relief pitcher.

"Besides, Yasu we got their numbers. If you are nice I might share a few with you. I'll even give a few tips. Might be a proper mauling will help you finally loosen up and reach your peak performance". With that I gave him a snap with the towel aimed at the spot on his rump with the most marks.

"I wonder how many of those numbers are real, I mean after they saw who they were marking they likely remembered their husbands". Which was one reason the "lionesses" were considered a bit risky. One of our teammates had to jump out of a 2nd story window at a "love motel" because he got a bit too fond of her "mauling". Said husband fortunately felt sorry for him while noticing him hanging butt naked from the awning. He only snapped a few pictures and settled for the embarrassment factor. Yes this was an interesting culture.

"Anyhow. I'm off to get my better clothes and probably get a bite to eat. We are on for 8: 00 pm right?" Everyone nodded their heads and gave our teams familiar grunt/chant. I joined in and headed out the side entrance.

As I left the field I passed fans, and everyone was in good cheer. Fortunately, as the mosh pit moment was gone, they just slapped me high fives. In good nature I gave out fist bumps (and the obligatory "secret soul" fancy daps), a few autographs and I pretended not to notice that a few women have touched my bare arm. At least they are playing it off as a casual brush. I was almost at the end of the fire line and I hadn't been pinched, what good luck. Nope spoke too soon, but the offenders are at least female this time and they only pinched my arm.

"Hello Marcus san, it's nice to see you again. Congratulations on your 3rd inning shut down" said a pair of young women near simultaneously. Both of them were wearing our team jacket.

Said jacket covered semi shredded fairly tight tank tops and cut jeans which exposed their g strings and bras. They were somewhat flat chested, had a bit too much makeup on and wore that somewhat ridiculous super tan I've noticed. I would say they were somewhat closer to our teams standard age of 20, which some of our less classy teammates would define them as "jackals". Those are younger women who will "work" their way through a team and usually congregate in numbers. "Hyenas" are women of any age who deliberately went after specific players with the intention of serious relationships, usually be agreeing with or smiling in response to everything they said or did.

I faced each of them and pretended to be tempted at the sight before me, by roving my eyes across them before genuinely smiling. " Thanks for the compliment. It's good to see you Isa san and Nika san as well". I gave each of them a brisk hug and a kiss on the cheek. I declined to date either of them, not because I felt disgusted by groupies or I thought they were ugly. I personally had nothing against them or premarital sex in general. But I reasoned that I should actually like any person I chose to sleep with. And yes I realize that idealism would probably fly out the window if I ran into some really hot woman. Of course as I'm not desperate and super models rarely come to sub collegiate league games, there's little chance of that happening. That was of course irrelevant, they had paid to watch me play and genuinely wished me well. If a hug and some kind words made them happy I'll gladly do so.

As I exited the stadium I checked my phone which I had just turned back on. Apparently there was some kind of shoot out that was in progress in the shopping district. Across the street from the stadium I noticed a car blaring loud music. At first I thought it was the usual delinquent wanna be thugs rolling around blaring Japanese hardcore rap. Of course such music was just about as "authentic" as the industry "music" I heard back in Harlem. Of course I was shocked by 2 things almost instantly. One was the music was in English, but it was the second that threw me for a loop. The flashy, somewhat tacky low rider that was hosting a soundtrack very similar to Snoop Dog was occupied by a group of 5 young black men dressed in stereotypical hood wear. Four were inside the car while one was walking back from Mr. Osha the noodle vendor.

Near the car was a group of 5 young women dressed like college students. Sizing them up I realized they were "rappers" or I should say "Industry musicians" on tour. Their car was decked out with speakers and the word Pantara was plastered over the car and some of their clothes. So they came to our game to advertise, pick up some age appropriate women and have a good time. I could respect that, and having decided they weren't a threat I made my way over to speak to the first new black people I had seen since I landed in Osaka 4 months ago. I had been in Japan about 7 months so far and figured I'd try out different places. I figured I would get the latest on what's going on in the states and give them a few pointers on meeting girls, especially avoiding jail bait (Japan doesn't fuck around with foreigners concerning drugs and minors).

What I was not expecting was the incident in town square to cause as much blowback as it did. One moment I was 12 feet from the tricked out Impala and about to yell what's up. The next minute I noticed a three car pile up as a mini truck failed to yield to a fleet of ems vehicles speeding by. Of course the Impala or the people near it wouldn't hear the screeching tires and with the driver as engrossed as he was with flirting he wouldn't be watching his rear view mirror. There wasn't much I could do for those in the car, but maybe I could help those out of it. The gentleman who was carrying the noodles saw the incoming disaster and pulled one of the young women back, while shouting. He was especially clear thinking I noted because he threw his phone at the window of the car, shocking his friends out of exchanging phone numbers. Unfortunately for them they went into shock after noticing the incoming careening vehicles, not that there was much they could do. Fortunately for the 2 women who were standing in front of the impala I turned laterally in my jump and collided with both of them thereby knocking them out of the way. Unfortunately I was not fast enough to clear the second inbound vehicle I did not see.

I remember a crushing force and small flight. There is also a brief memory of the action around me. One of the brothers, the one with the Pantera shirt went right through the windshield. After that I remember my mind splintering. I was then looking at my self being transferred like in one those sci fi movies I liked watching. Only this was like watching a laser printer operate. I came into being one strip at a time unable to move. Around me were a bunch of Japanese people and few "foreigners" from other parts of Asia. I notice a tall young man of around my age, wearing what looked like a stylish leisure suit with a Where's Waldo shirt. The first thing he does is laugh for joy, like some Saturday morning cartoon villain who just defeated the hero for the first time ever. I then notice a pretty woman with a knitted 1950's flapper cap covering most of her face. I believed she might be a national youth supermodel whose name started with R. This was confirmed when a bunch of people present almost flashed mobbed her, naming her Rieka.

There was a ball in the center of the room and everyone seemed a bit scared, to be honest so was I. Then I notice the same transference happen to a few other people. Most were quite and a few were chattering in Japanese or their own languages. I recognized 3 of the rappers, but I choose not to speak just yet. Then the too pretty tall dude in the suit said nothing but kept starring at the ball like it was somehow communicating with him mystically. I was about to ask questions, when another person transferred in. The first thing the newcomer did was yell "Izumi. Izumi you Bastard" like even his name was a curse, charge him and grab him by his collar. The man, Izumi didn't seem worried and gave him what we in New York called a classic 2 piece combo. That is a gut punch and an uppercut.

This "two piece combo" apparently was enough for a KO and the smaller youth collapsed onto the floor in front of the ball. "Don't Get Involved", "So weak", and "Did that combo come with a fries and coke" are words muttered from the crowd. I admit I laughed at the last one, yes it's mean but the joke was funny. Then the Ball lit up and started playing some cheesy 70's music I've heard a few times on tv. I noticed everyone is shocked including myself but Izumi's face hadn't changed at all.


	2. Chapter 2

I had trouble understanding what the ball was displaying as I had to push a few people out of the way gently. Some people weren't actually interested in reading the glowing words but were speaking to each other. The words were ironically in English and were in that funny leet speak some of my wanna be Hacker friends knew. My mind already used to reading Kanji was not as flexible to flipping back and forth as some Native Japanese bilingual speakers. So it took me an extra second to translate and let it register.

"Welcome to Gantz Players".  
"Your lives have now ended".  
"How you use your new lives is entirely up to us".  
"Everyone's been so weak lately".  
"That's why I wanted to bring the strongest people here".

Defeat the  
Kape Alien  
Thick Headed  
Sweats a lot

Likes  
Lizards  
Birds  
Qoutes  
"This is my place. Don't Look Down on Me. If you want to leave then leave."

Once it has finished this the black ball opened. From its side came racks of strange looking guns and equipment. Said doors smacked a young man in the face, but did not seriously injure him. What appeared to be his guardian showed concern for his health and aided him. Frankly this scared the shit out of me. I scanned the room for reactions, even the big stoic looking Japanese guy who would remind you of Yojimbo from the Akira Kurisowa film was a bit spooked. The only person whose facial expression did not indicate surprise (aside from the unconscious kid on the floor) was Izumo. If anything his face emanated a strange combination of excitement and joy. What frightened me was that that kind of excitement seemed to remind me of the look I've seen on groupies at one of my games. Everyone broke off into the groups that they initially came with or of similar mindset and started chirping about what they thought was happening.

"This is bullshit" someone spoke in clear Japanese before muttering some harsh sounding words in what I think was Thai. It must have been one of the browner East Asians of which there were 3. They don't look alike and none of them have the body language of mates so I assumed they were just friends.

" I don't know what the rest of that was but I recognize the word for shit, and I know fucking bullshit when I smell it!" One of the brothers, the one wearing a Pantera woolen skullcap said. His other friend who was wearing blue Pantera jeans nodded and I saw him open his mouth. He had a full mouth of golden caps, the solid 1 piece kind that usually include vampire fangs. At least this brother had enough class to skip that part and enough sense to advertise his own brand across his bridgework; in diamond studs of course.

I noticed the tall man obsessive looking man pick up a box and enter a side room . He returned with what seemed to be an S and M black costume and head into a second room. It was then I decided to act.

"Excuse me Izumo dono, might I ask you what is the purpose of this situation and why you are wearing that costume?" I made sure to add the respectful form. He knew what was going on and therefore was someone I needed not to offend. That and he was more muscular than I was and already knocked out the first dude who cussed him out.

The man's, a teenager on closer inspection, facial expression changed slightly as he appraised me. He paused a moment, as though deciding on whether or not to bother answering, then he smirked. "I will say this only once. Treat this situation like war, for you will have to protect your lives. You all died and came here. If you don't want to die again I suggest you read what Gantz says and pay close attention. I also advise you wear this suit and take as many weapons as you can" was what the tall, too good looking youth said. I think he might have spoken more if not for the interruption he received.

"I am not dead I'm alive and I know it, this is some kind of game. You can't pull the wool over my eyes!". This came from some yuppie seated near the ball. "Don't scare my son with that kind of talk" opined a woman clutching her child near her husband.

Izumo's face then changed suddenly as though he were a parent dealing with children or as god among ants. I'd seen similar looks in American schools on the kind of bullies that were vicious, on hard cases that prowled my neighborhood and on some police. "Suit yourselves. Gantz send me first" he spoke before heading to the doors.

I decided on taking a risk of his potentially violent nature and crossed over to within 2 arms lengths of Izumo and speaking in timber of voice only he could hear. "Again pardon my presumption Izumo dono, but can you give me any more practical information about this situation before you beam out? What does the suit do, why do we need it? How dangerous are these things we need to kill? How do those guns and equipment work?"

Izumo's amused tone returned as he beckoned me to follow him into the room he had changed in. If he were going to murder anyone at this point I figured it wouldn't be me, hell the kid who had grabbed him was still breathing after all. "Exactly why would I help you to get more points than me? Better why should I care how long you survive in this war game. Its every man for himself in the point race and only the best survive".

"Even the strongest recognize the value of teamwork and a team without information is useless. So please tell me what are points, what do they have to do with this place and how do you earn them?"

"Look, you seem smart for a foreigner so I'll answer 2 questions and give you 1 free piece of advice. The advice is stay away from my kills. As to the question make them quick and easy to answer because I'll be leaving soon. Damn it feels good to be back in the hunt".

I thought about it. I could ask if we were really dead or what was the point of all this. I could even ask about the rules of this hunt and points but if that other kid didn't wake up or was uncooperative I wouldn't be getting any answers at all. So I decided to get to the immediate needs type questions.

"clocks ticking" he smirked and I held my tongue at his pretentiousness (I'd learned pretty good self control. Years of dealing with crazies, desperate homeless, proud gangsters, stuck up school administrators, and arrogant police had long taught me how to school my face and emotions).

"Ok, what does the suit do and how do I use it?"

"Was that two questions?, (he smirks again) don't sweat it. It gives you super strength and speed. It also gives you protection against most attacks. Be careful though because it will fail if it takes too much damage and it can't stop all attacks. As for how to use it, well It reacts to your thoughts" At this my facial control must have slipped because his smirk became less pleasant and a lot more menacing.

"Look I'm not saying I don't believe you" before I could finish his suit rippled and he grabbed me with one hand by my shoulder and lifted. I was suspended by my right arm! I am 5.8 and I weight about 189 pounds. No one could do that without strain. Well I was pissed at this point and not thinking rationally so I kicked Izumo in the balls with a mighty "Hiya!" as I learned in Shoju Gyru karate. I am a 2nd Dan in that style and I hold a few yellows in other forms of combat. I couldn't live the life I have and do less. I also refused to fear anyone and I was going to put this fool and his nonsense in their place. That other guy probably had better intel and a better disposition were thoughts running thorugh my mind. Well my foot connected and the resulting pain traveled up my nerves as it was like hitting concrete. My fist followed with a pin point strike on his eye, I figured that even if the suit was armored there was none on his eye and he would have to let me go. Well my knuckle snapped back hard enough to hit me and I was in a good deal of pain. I must have yelled because I could hear people outside making comments and the brothers were snickering.

At this Izumo said "have I made my point?" and released me on my ass. I made a whoof and "ow" sound as I rubbed my foot and hand. Nothing was broken but my middle finger on my left would be sore for a while. "Also nice idea going for my eye. You have another question make it another good one. I have faith in you". Ignoring the jibe I thought about it before answering.

"What's the most effective weapon for a beginner to take and how does it work?". Izumo laughed. "That is the smartest question any fucking noob ever asked me". At this point I was beyond pride and scared shitless. This shit was real, aliens were real and I was going to have to fight for my fucking life. That suit and what it could do was proof, it protected the parts of him that were not even covered. No human body armor could do that shit.

"I can't say for sure what your best weapon will be, and I think you'll probably live past 1 mission. cause you'll be in a suit not in my way. Though I would avoid the pistol it's too complicated for beginners to aim in close quarters. By this I mean if you let the enemy get that close you are dead, by all means take it but use the rifle from long distance. The first trigger is to set your target and the second is to fire the gun. The first trigger lets you have an X-ray effect, sometimes you can see a weakness".

With that he grabbed me again. "That's two questions answered. I'll give you some more free info. This is the longest I've spent taking to walking dead. If you wasted my time and die stupidly I might chose option 3 from the 100 point menu to kill you again. (he laughed). Don't be afraid to use the fools outside as bait, most of them wont be coming back, but whatever you do (he threw me into the wall, but not hard enough to do damage) don't fuck with my kills or I will bring you back again 2 times to make my point!"  
With that I saw him get printed to a new location.

I heard the rustling at the door and a few "Is that idiot dead?". "Which one, the guy who insulted the madman or the one who was kissing his ass?". "Don't you means sucking his dick?" (I knew by the timber of his voice that one was from one of the wankstas. Though I guess out of politeness and to not offend 4 of the biggest people in the room everyone was speaking in English). I took the 15 seconds I needed to get to my feet. On the floor I noticed the box that must have held his suit, written on it were the Kanji for Shion Izumi, nothing was broken and I wasn't bleeding. So I got up, exited the room and brushed the people around me aside. I noticed the kid was still out on the floor. I'd deal with him in a minute, but first things first. I walked to the rack and scrolled through the list of boxes and names. Lo and behold I saw Joralemon Marcus in plain English. Strange that it would choose to spell my name in English, even though I spoke and read pretty fluent Japanese. I saw 4 other English names and it clicked whoever did this knew who we were BEFORE it snatched us.

Anyhew I knew there was some kind of time limit as Shion had said send him first. I moved quickly and rushed into the hallway to change. I ignored the silly comments and fawning over Reika. I tried to put the funny suit on over my clothes. Then I remembered that Izumi had worn his suit under his clothes and that there was only one piece of clothing left behind by Shion, his underwear. I then danced out of my clothes, donned the suit, redressed and stuffed my underwear in my pocket. I then willed myself strong and attempted to stand on my hands. Despite years of martial arts training it was something I never quite mastered, but to my amazement I could not only handstand without strain, but walk on my hands without fatigue. I eventually did fall over after 8 steps walking forward and back, but that was due to my lack of balanc and surprise.

Now I had the advantage. The question was what to do about it, for that I would need more information. I knew that the suits were real, I knew that the weapons and equipment were also likely real, which meant the fighting dangerous and deadly creatures was also (I shuddered) very real. So now I needed to know what if anything I wanted to share. Only one person had that kind of information and he was still taking a nap. It was time to see about changing that.

I walked back into the common room to notice that one person had already been translated. No one seemed to comment about it and were carrying on either fawning over Rieka, making philosophical arguments about what was happening, complaining (the 4 wankstas) or sitting in silence ( the giant and two odd looking people, the older one with light red hair and the smaller one resembling a tomato).

I was on the clock so I asked. "Does anyone here have medical training or some form of smelling salt to wake this guy up?". "Why do you care young man?" said an older well dressed Japanese man. I replied in English in order to be polite "It seems like common decency to care about an injured person". " Yo, weren't you just so buddy buddy with homes that smacked his up?" Pantera Headgear spoke up "What did he dump you already?" one the Gals (the kind of girl who goes orange tan, it would seem I mistook her string of unintelligible curse words and skin tone for making her Thai. It's not all that strange for certain classes to curse in other languages).

I took a deep breath and raised my voice a few octaves higher without increase my timber to avoid threatening anyone and starting a tosterone party. "It seems to me that Shion Izumi has been here before. He was the only person that was not surprised by the Gantz opening and he was happy to be here. He probably is not altogether upstairs and a mean son of bitch, but he knows what that thing is. So since I like living I wanted to know what he did. So like my parents taught me I asked nicely".

"That explain why your clothes are wrinkled, was Izumi kun too rough with you?". The words she used in Japanese alluded to Yaoi practices without subtlety. She and most of the Japanese laughed. The 2 spoiled girls giggled, though the rest including the family of 3 and the giant man were paying closer attention to what I was saying.

The older gentlemen followed up "And I take that Shion person transferred out of here already so you can't get any more information from him?". "Yes and he is pretty much an asshole who doesn't want to share too much, as he thinks we will steal his kill and points from him. To him this is a game, but I believe this SHIT IS SERIOUS!"

The woman in the back took notice "Please control your language, I understand this is trying for all of us but my child does not need to be exposed to foul language". she then spoke to her husband in higher end Japanese that I couldn't quite make out. She seemed to be the kind of woman that got her brothers and boyfriends into shit. Though the last words were clear.

"This foreigner is talking more nonsense and he is corrupting our child's mind with foul language please do something". At this I asked the older gentleman to help me take the young man into the rear room to splash some water on his face and try to rouse him. Before we made it to the door Reika, who was about tired of dealing with the Gals and other onlookers held it open.

As I entered it I said in clear Japanese "This foreigner and the most sensible persons here will attempt to get some clear answers that might just get you and your family home safely". Reika closed the door behind us.

I looked at the old man and spoke in Japanse "My name is Marcus Joralemon it is nice to meet a sensible man in this hour of madness and stupidity". I said my name in the standard last first format, attempting to appeal to his likely old fashioned sentiments.

"I am Yoshikazu Suzuki". I shook his hand.

"You already know I am Reika Shimohera". We each shook the hand of the other.

"Now all we need to know is who this gentleman is, we know he charged a man nearly twice his size with killing intent I could feel (I used the word dark hadou) from across the room, but the why is beyond me".

Suzuki looked at me "I could feel it from the next province young man, there is a story there".

We then took off the young man's coat. I then spoke to him a in a soothing but firm voice "Good sir wake up". The old man attempted to speak more words to no effect. Reika took off her hat and filled it with water. The old man splashed it on his face. It was cold and it did the trick.

He bolted up, yelling "Izumi you bastard" and attempted to punch me, which went about as well as my kicks did on Shion. Fortunately for him, he didn't have much force in that blow so he didn't break anything. However, he yelled ouche and some curses for about a 8 seconds. He then looked at each of us and we exchange names. His was Kei Kurono. From outside we could hear one of the Gals "Looks like they are giving the poor newcomer the same treatment" followed by some laughs. It sounded like there were fewer people outside.

"So young man did you get it out of your system? That other fellow Izumi isn't here any more. Could you tell us why you don't like him?" the old man stated and Rei nodded. "While that might be nice to know, what is important is what this game is about? What are its rules and how do we win it? Those are the important things to know."

Actually "what's important if for me to get a look at Gantz." With that I helped him get to his feet and he weighed practically nothing. When we got outside the only people still there were a pair of skinny looking guys, and the giant Japanse man.

Kurono walked up to Gantz which apparently was the ball and it told him he needed 15 points to stay alive. As the big man walked over he froze and began vanishing. "What's your name sir? I am Jerolemon Marcus" He replied "Daizaemon Kaze". As he said that I pulled what looked like a ps2 controller in my left pocket, a pistol on my other and a rifle over my shoulder. I also picked up the box with his name on it and walked to the door I saw Shion enter. In it were what looked like motorcycles. In the other Room Kurono ceased panicking and told everyone to grab box with their name on it. I placed the box in side one of the vehicles. Then I walked back in to the room and picked up each of the skinny guys with 2 fingers "The suits give you super strength, pick up the fucking box with your name on it and take one of everything for your self. If you can get more for the others do it." I turned to Kei " I take it anything we have on our persons comes with us?"

"Yes and I will explain more but we need to be ready to go." He turned around "There's another fucking room? Of course there's another fucking room". He pocketed more equipment and walked into the room with the bikes. I could feel some of his fear leave him. "Ok everyone load up these bikes with everything that can fit on them including the suit boxes and then sit on them". "Do it or I will toss you around here like that fucker Shion did to me, to make the point This is not a fucking game" There were 4 bikes in the garage and there was enough room for just about every piece of equipment we would need including the boxes of suits.

Kurono looked a little less panicky "Care to explain what points are?" One of the skinny dudes and the boxes he was carrying began to vanish "Later, DONT leave the area or a bomb in your head will go off, don't move unless you must I will find you and explain. Put on the damn suits and if you have to shoot pull both triggers on all the gun. Don't fiddle with the controller. Everyone else get on your bikes".

As I walked toward my bike with my last load I noticed some hilts without blades. Pointing it away from myself I noticed it extended without a sound. Like the suit it responded mentally and retracted the same way

"This looks cool, it opens and closes like you control the suit. Do you know how to use one?" I offered it to him hilt first Kurono took it from me saying something bout a few months of Kendo. Thinking it wouldn't hurt I tosses a few onto what was some empty space on the bike. I didn't know how to sword fight, but I intended to learn and someone else might.

In the end it was me on one bike, Reika on another while Kurono and the old man shared the last. The last thing I said before I felt myself lock into place was "don't worry you'll get your points and because my name is a mouthful call me Marcus". I offered him a smile and he and the old man nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

I came back to reality in what looked like a park. Around me were about 4 other people I recognized from the room. Behind me was Reika and in front of me were the old man and Kei. Seated in Zen like tranquility was the giant Japanese dude.

"Alright you can head behind those bushes over there and change. We don't know when whatever bad things will go down and this suit can save your life." Kuronai says.

"I was there when Marcus san demonstrated it and you don't have to tell me twice, she took her box and left."

While Reika and the old man were changing Kei turned to me and said "I promised you answers and here they are. I'm in a rush for my life right now so I'll make this simple. We kill aliens and we get points. He then pulled out his controller. The yellow dots are the aliens the red are us. We have until this counter ends to get them all. You don't want to know what happens if we fail. If you leave the area marked off in white your head blows up. One more thing as long as you are alive at the end of the time any injury you have gets healed. That's it. I have to get my points"

In front of me there was the giant Kaiza. The giant spoke "I have a question. I should like to know why you are wearing that suit?". I muscled up and kicked in a 5 foot area of knee high stone wall.

"Because this suit makes you stronger and less likely to die against what's coming. Also, if more people see you wearing it they likely will wear it too; meaning we have a greater chance of surviving". I went through the stack of boxed suits, weapons and tools that I had piled up near the 3 bikes.

"Ah here we are, yours" I handed it to him. "Looks a bit silly but if you see an alien we'd likely need them. I mean you are pretty strong, but they are probably stronger than a man and we need every" Before I can complete the sentence Kaiza had struck me four times with different strikes. He then suplexed me and tossed me into the wall. I wasn't hurt at all but I was surprised.

"Very well I shall wear this suit, its logical whatever we face will be at least that powerful".

At this point Reika and the Old man are dressed and heading out to help Kei. Each of them has a weapon and a scanner/controller.

A few minutes later Reika comes back as Kei said it was too dangerous for her to help him.

Before she cut the corner she asked what I was going to do if I wasn't going to follow Kei either.

I informed her "Proselytizing. Feel free to ride with me or Yojimbo here" Kaiza looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Just kidding, sheesh not a Kurasowa fan? We are collecting the lost lambs and getting them armed to the teeth".

Reika climbed in with me and I asked her to keep an eye on the map and try to get a feel for the distances. "For some reason its in a more obscure form of Kanji than I'm used to and I need to focus on driving." Its also a good idea to make sure everyone in a group feels useful.

We came upon the first group of shocked survivors huddled near a Kiosk.

That's when I yelled like a madman and rammed a large steel light pole with my fist. Ordinarily when a man rams a light pole it's the man that bends. This time I dented in to the point it bent at a 79 degree angle. I didn't feel any pain, so I ramped it up a notch. My suit flexed and I grabbed the pole where it met the concrete and I ripped it from it base, cutting the connection it had with the electric grid. That area of the park became less well lit.

"If anyone present doubts that this is a real light pole let them come and try to pick it up" Having said that I lifted the pole in the center with one hand and twirled it around. The 4 industry musicians looks at me and walk directly to the pole and attempts to lift it. together they are able to pick up one end about 8 inches before dropping it. Another man walks up to the pole and attempts to move it.

"This shits is real isn't it". "No shit friend" I replied. At this point the people were panicking, namely because none of them thought to bring theirs.

"That is the power of these suits. I will explain more if you will kindly shut up and stop making gay jokes". I stomped on the floor creating cracks on the ground.

"These are real weapons as well" I then point my x pistol at the steal side of an information kiosk. The first trigger gives me an xray affect, so far so good on the intel. The second trigger doesn't do anything at first. About 2 seconds later the kiosk has a 4 foot segment missing and there is a muffled explosion.

"My name is Marcus you will call me Marcus sama and I will teach you what I know and keep you alive until the most knowledgeable one arrives. That man's name is Kei Koruno, aka the man who we all saw knocked out by Izumi. No I don't know what is going on between the two of them. However. I would suggest that everyone avoid Izumi and not involve themselves in whatever he chooses. He is violent and wants to be left alone. Kei will find us shortly and give us a full debrief (always make yourself sound like you know what you are doing). When you hear my words you hear those of Kei Dono.

Behind me is Kaiza sama and Reika sama; they are my associates and you will listen to what either says as you will listen to the words of Suzuki, aka the old man. We are not trying to boss anyone around and won't force you to obey. However, consider that Izumi and Kei dono are still alive after doing this before and that there are only 2 survivors. Do you believe that they were alone in that previous mission? Also consider that Kei dono has given me much more information than Izumi and did so freely and without threats. He will give us more when we meet him. Does everyone here want to live and get home safely?"

Most of them nod.

"Then you will march behind Reika sama's bike, find your suits and work out your weapons which we stacked and left for you a few hundred meters in the other direction. Please go now." I turned to Rieka.

"Set up a nice defensive position, preferably one that is in front of a wall or a glass building. Don't be afraid to rip up benches or kiosks to form a wall. Property damage is not something to think about. I think you are rich enough to replace anything destroyed and your life is very valuable to your nation. Shoot anything that isn't human coming your way." I turned to Kaiza sama "Does what I say make sense?".

"What about you?" Asked one of the scared yuppies "Me and Kaiza dono are picking up the stragglers before the yellow dots do. Reika will explain it. The sooner you are suited and armed the safer you will be".

I look at Kaiza who hoped on my bike and we head off to where some Yellow dots are converging with a few red.

I looked back noticing Rieka and talking to others from her bike and handing a middle aged gentleman a rifle. I had told her to pick the oldest family person she could find to ride shotgun with the rifle. It wasn't so much that I was looking for efficiency as I had no idea the kind of people we were dealing with and I would hate to have to kill some fools for stupidly trying a rape fantasy.

They were making a good pace and I could roughly see their group moving in the right direction. Now I could focus on our part. Kei chan was pretty worried about these "aliens" so I would have to assume that what he saw was the real deal. The four blips the larger group of survivors had described were a gal and a family of three and only the death of the other would ensure the survival of one group.

**Reika's Group**

"Are we there yet" whined one of the young yuppies. These people were pretty annoying; hitting on her like the reject hippie, making rude sexual comments about the young black man who didn't seem very gay at all (she had caught him sneaking looks at her chest), or just outright bitching about small things.

According to the scanner she was given by Marcus san she should be reaching the stockpile of their suits in the next 5 minutes. As they had taken every suit with them, they would have one for everyone. Kei san had told everyone that only the suit with your name on would work for you. It occurred to her that Marcus san could read Kanji pretty well and might have just given her the navigators job as busy work. Or he could have honestly intended for her to take a leadership role. Someone had to get these people armed and ready to help out, even if she hadn't seen any aliens all these guns and abilities were real. No one does all that for no reason, so if there were enemies around 10 guns were better than 4. Especially if most of them like her never had been in a real fight or ever fired a paintball gun.

Another snide comment woke her from her thoughts. This one came from what looked like a slightly darker Korean/Japanese Yuppie. "So we are following the words of that weak faggot who got KO'd and the other one who spread it for the guy who beat his ass?. Why don't we leave this bitch and wait for the police?"

Now Reika had put up with a lot today, death, poorly laid out attempts to sneak into her panties and even selfish whining. As a model she knew damn well that she herself had a number of petulant habbits, but questioning reasonable ideas in a life and death situation which already claimed 6 lives? That level of stupid was not going to slide on her watch. It would fester until someone got it in their heads to take charge and opt for a assinine plan and got more people killed. She heard Marcus sama, Kurono Kun was counting on her to do her part to keep everyone together. She knew there was something special about a man who didn't have a suit but made sure to let everyone know the dangers. He would get his points and survive, and she would make sure he had backup.

Reika stopped the unicycle. "Which one of you said that?"

The loudmouth attempted to back away but the American Black man with the Pantera shirt (she thought his name was R-Tip) said "why pussy out now big man? You really afraid of a sweet thing like her?".

The man said "Look I just want to know why we need to walk all the way to the start are to get suits when we haven't seen any of these so called aliens. We could just lay on the grass and wait for our rescue by the police. I didn't mean anything with the jokes".

"No what you meant to do was switch your mouth and ass. Think about it. The suits are real, the weapons are real, leaving the white area gets you killed, and nothing we have seen today can be done by the greatest powers on earth. Everything Kuronai dono and Marcus dono have said adds up. Are you really stupid enough to believe this is a tv program or something the police can deal with? Why do you think that madman was so happy to arm himself and run around here these suits like Steve Irwin on safari? I can assure there are easier ways to cosplay that don't involve dying and being beamed around like a laser printer.

So (she reached in and picked him up with 3 fingers and tossed him on his rump) You will all listen to me. We will go get your suits and you will practice with your weapons and we will stick together. Even if the police and Self defense forces were on their way 9 minutes ago this would be over long before they got here. I should remind you that Marcus sama didn't have to tire himself looking for you all or provide you with any warning. How many of you would do that for people who constantly mock them? So either walk or I will prove this isn't a joke by kicking your ass the rest of the way like a soccer ball. The same will happen to the next man that hits on me only I will punt them facing the other way." The 4 wanksters laughed, as did the strange duo and a variety of people. They started a walking though.

"By the way, lets all share our names and bit about ourselves it'll make the trip more fun" and also distract her from the fact that there were yellow dots moving towards her position. Not rapidly mind you but sill closing. They would need those weapons and shooters to wield them. She picked up the pace, hoping Kei and the other would be alright.

The older reddish blonde member of the duo spoke "Look this is actually the least weird thing I have dealt with in the last 4 days, we should listen to the lady". As they walked the two psychics introduced themselves and gave a small display of their powers levitating some pocket change. It went a way to granting her leadership legitimacy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Marcus' Cycle**

I had seen many strange and inexplicable things in my 16 going on 17 (in a few months) years. Hard core macho gangsters who were actually gay and liked lilac perfume, police detectives who were actually honest, the first black president of the United States. Hell my life is was a walking contradiction if you were to read my life as an extrapolation of my circumstances and personal history. However, nothing I had experienced before could prepare me for the sight my eyes beheld as I crossed hill 19 of Shibi Park (and yes they numbered the hills). There was a 4.12 slightly overweight gal throwing down on what I could only think of as a stalky man made of cauliflower.

"You know if she was wearing a suit she probably would have killed that thing by now. Damn she is fiercer than some thugs I know".

It would seem not all Gals were Japanese versions of wiggers with no bite and in the future I would remember what I saw then.

Kaiza snickered and looked at me "I sense more spirit in her than many of the so called strongest I have beaten". Approaching the young woman's position were honest to goodness Jurassic Park style velociraptors.

"What the fuck! they have alien dinosaurs from bad movies here? This shit it bananas!" I put the cycle in park and stared at my controller list while zooming in. I did this to both get an accurate count of hostiles and a more definite scale of distance. From what I could gather the dinos and the girl were about 300 meters from me.

Sure If I gunned it I might be able to snatch the potty mouth from the situation. Of course I had no idea what skills those things had, how truly fast they were or if they could spit lasers. One does not play guesswork with your life or that of others. There was also the chance that I could just as easily miss the grab or break her neck in the extraction.

"If you don't mind me asking if the point of this was to save people why are you stopping here?"

"The point is to save lives, not lose our own." I grabbed my X rifle and got out of the vehicle.

"If you would kindly step out of your seat I will take my shots from an elevated position". With that Kaiza picked me up and placed me on top of the cycle (likely without using enhanced strength), then handed me my rifle.

"Thank you, kindly observe" I said a quick prayer to Jesus that my aim would be true and timely. As it was the young gal had not noticed the 4 raptors closing in her, as she was very busy beating the celery man like the LAPD did Rodney King. I took a deep breath and looked through the scope.

I had shot rifles before, both at carnivals and at the range. I had even hunted rabbits and done rat skeeting with some of my southern friend's cousins. Though I never was an excellent shot per say I realized that the suit strength basically negated recoil. I also doubted what ever these guns shot truly was affected by bullet drop or windage. Having said that it was wonky looking in through an X ray scope for what amounted to the fourth time today. I had asked Kaiza and Rei chans to drive while I got familiar with the scope a bit.

Which is why I only blew the shoulder off the first raptor ) as it closed to 60 meters to our Gal pal.

I hit the one in the rear to avoid spooking the others, having read it somewhere as an 'old snipers' trick. "Not a bad first shot with a new weapon" Kaiza said. The second raptor to last lost its head about 2 seconds later. By this point surprise was gone as the wounded one was crying to all the heavens. By now the gal had seen what was coming her way and was panicking. The good news is the still charging raptors stopped a moment to get a bearing on what had wounded their siblings.

I took that moment to remove the neck from one of the unwounded ones. It was then that the Celery alien brushed off the gal with a brisk motion. It seemed a bit larger than it was a few seconds ago from my point of view. A quick Xray look confirmed her chest was moving and I didn't see any broken bones, though she wasn't moving. The Kappe (I remembered the brief) then pointed its finger and me yelling Kazu. My instincts then kicked in I aimed at the wounded one and fired, and predictably it jumped.

"Those things are fucking fast Kaiza san".

"Well I doubt we would be given these tools if they were slow, maintain your breath Marcus san". I did just as he suggested as the lizard birds closed to 200 meters. I breathed and fired just ahead of where I thought the wounded one would land, once (miss), twice (got some feathers), three times (knicked his leg). The raptor stumbled at 140 meters and I ended him with what looked like a heart shot if that organ that appeared in its upper right chest on the X ray scope was its weak spot. That still left the uninjured one, which had closed to 90 meters, these shit birds are truly fast. I could see its teeth and I really did not want to see how much damage these the suits could protect us from. Intellectually I knew I should be able to pick up one of those dinos, as they weight less than some of the things I'd picked up today. However, my rational mind wasn't what was feeding my fears of those teeth.

I breathed deeply and fired again, destroying a tuft of grass 3 feet behind the damn thing. Then it made a mistake and lept at 50 meters. I took my eyes away from the eye piece and shouldered my gat while whipping out my pistol. Never run in a straight line, never hide behind grass and never jump in a straight line at a FPS gamer with a BFG and unlimited ammo. What entered into the air at 40 meters as a 8 meter saurian landed in a mess 5 meters from me as collection of gory bits. I and "my" ride of course still received a light coating of what I guess was grey matter, blood and intestinal juices. Now Kaiza sama had wisely stepped out of line of the things jump and if he got more than a few drops on his suit I'd be surprised.

"Exactly why didn't you shoot, as well my friend? The thing could have bitten you as well".

"I had perfect faith in your marksmanship, and I honestly I wanted to see how you would cope with pressure. You understand the strengths and limitations of your weapon and yourself and play to both". He began walking towards the slightly larger celery monster. He pointed at it and yelled and it did the same while moving toward him, ignoring me and the gal.

"Kindly leave this one to me. Please collect the young lady and the family of three and give them the aid they need". I looked a Kaiza sama. We both knew I could snipe out that thing from this distance before it closed but I also knew he could take the thing in his suit and there was the fact we wanted said celery monster to focus on him not said gal.

"Yo Kaiza" I dropped a sword (I had explained the weapons during the road trip) and a pistol on the ground. "Make sure I see you at the room when this is over. Rip him a new one!" I sped down the embankment toward the still gal while the two giants sized each other up. As I got closer to it Kappe was saying "Don't underestimate me". I slowed down long enough put the girl in my seat and ensure she didn't fall off. Then I was off at top speed to help the family of three as there was a yellow dot that was almost on top of them. I knew just how deadly one of those lizards could be.

Said gal woke up in between my location and the family of three. Her first move was to try to jam her finger in my eye. Such gratitude only dislocated the offending thumb. I had to stop for a minute to quickly explain, push the thumb back (its something that happens to baseball players occasionally) and to let her off so I could make it the family quickly. I would explain things more effectively after I saved those stubborn fools from either the raptors or getting their heads blown off. When I got there I saw the father beginning to struggle with the creature and after seeing the wife and son running in my direction. I took out my pistol and blew off its legs before it could retaliate. Then when husband backed away I finished with head shot.

I gave them the family basic instructions and told them to head to a couple of obvious landmarks, follow the directions of the Kurono and his lieutenants and to get their suits on asap. I then tossed the father my pistol. I still had Kaiza' rifle and my own and only two hands after all. On the way back I parked the two seater near the 14 year old gal, whose name was Benehime Shogutara. He face was mixture of pain, rage and shock.

"I'm sorry about your friend's death; she didn't deserve to die that way, especially at your age. I'm also sorry I cant leave you in peace and give you time to grieve. However, we are at war with those things and if each of us doesn't do our part we will all die here. I'm willing to let you back on the bike. I need people who will fight but not against each other. If you think and put your courage against the right target most of us can make it out of this mess and you can even get some pay back for.."

"Ayami Shonotsu, she was my cousin. We were like sisters" she said drying her eyes.

"Yes, you can help avenge Ayami and keep people like that little boy back there safe. He doesn't deserve to get eaten because his mother is a grade a bitch does he?" She shook her head "Didn't think so. Tell you what I'll even let you keep making gay jokes as long as you help me kill those damn things; what do you say?".

Benehime climbed into seat in the back with her confident attitude mostly restored and spoke in an eerily bloodthirsty perky tone with false bass "Lets drop on these bitch ass mini Kaiju like that comet started way back whenever B". I couldn't help but shudder and wish that whatever corporate studio executive first came up with the bright idea to commercialize fake thuggism was roasting in whatever hell would have him. I stated heading towards the congregation of dots. Hopefully they have set up a perimeter by now cause they will need it.

"By the way you hit damn hard for a gal, if you had a suit you probably would have killed that thing (only a slight exaggeration but confidence is part of morale) you seem a bit too tough for a rich girl".

"I learned Krav mega from my uncle, He's in the SDF. And me an my crew do fight club too. (She must have seen my smile creeping because her face turned petulant) Don't laugh; just because my prep school is posh doesn't make the girls any less bitchy. Any fools disrespect us in school they loose some teeth later. I gets respect cuz I put my own work in". She then turned to look in my direction. "Are you and that dude really an Item? I mean you are tough enough to kill these things, so I don't really care if you're gay or whatever".

I shook my head in irritation. "Of all the questions to ask, does my gun run out of ammo?, Does my suit have any more powers, how does the controller work? You ask if I'm fucking some people I just met 2 hours ago and if I'm gay! No is the answer; I like pussy just as much as most dudes".

"Hey relax you said I could tease you!" I pause for a moment, then let out a belly laugh "That I did orange one, that I did. Let me break down how this gear works and you can explain to me why you chose to pull the Donald Trump look".

I then ran through the basic operations of the guns and stepped on the gas. The sooner Benehime was someone else's issue, the less likely I was to step on her. I take that back, she was more than a one dimensional airhead it seemed but her faux street attitude was trying, especially when it bordered wiggerism. It wasn't really her that made me angry as she was at least somewhat useful and not being deliberately or offensively racist (I even got the feeling she was trying to impress me), it was this fucked up situation that was eating my patience.

I was totally unprepared for something like this. Doom, Resident Evil, Unreal Tournament and others don't prepare you for dealing with fucking man eating dinosaurs and Kung foo using giant celery men with inferiority complexes and size issues.

"I hate these fucking thing too" the gal peeped up sensing the true cause of my ire and the lack of my response to her latest witicism. I nodded and decide to run my thoughts over with her.

I explained the worst scenarios that kept going through my mind. In a game when the number of enemies went down it implied the quality would increase. I noted the locations and groupings of the dots. The yellow dot near Kaiza's location went out a few minutes ago, but Kaiza's was still functioning.

I really hoped that lughead remembered to bring the weapons; even if he didn't want to wield them, someone else would. Kaiza was ignoring the group of 3 dots that was steadily and slowly making his way to the "base area".

For a minute I was concerned they might run into the yellow mass of dots heading toward our "base". They didn't have a suit between them and only 1 weapon. Neither did they have a controller to see where their enemies were, but said enemies were ignoring them to converge in 3 places. Unlike them Kaiza had a suit and a controller. As he seemed the decent if bloodthirsty sort he likely had an idea that a good fight with another boss was in that direction and the family was in no real danger.

Going with that premise and the continued existence of yellow dots around 1 red dot to the east (had to be the pycho Izumi) and 2 red dots to the north (the old man and Kurono) led to the conclusion there was more than 1 "boss". This is because most fights were over in less than 40 seconds and as most of us were unarmed it was the red dots that vanished. I truly hoped Kurono survived and got his points, not only because he seemed like the only descent veteran, but he was the only one willing to give any information.

I judged it was unlikely that girl could change fast enough or safely in the coming fight so she would better serve with me as a mobile sniper at least until this group was finished. I said another quick prayer and prepared to sucker punch the group of raptors converging on our "base".


	5. Chapter 5

Battle of the Fort Kei

There were a lot more raptors converging on our team than dots. So this device or the intelligence it gets were not perfect. That or someone is fucking with the signal, which just as easily could include "our" own side. Questions flooded my mind. If "our" side has this level of tech why don't the aliens have guns and scanners too? They speak Japanese just fine and at least one of them has opposable thumbs and clothing. If they had any kind of firearms we'd all be dead already, even with the suits. Further, if they had jamming tech that could break our locks why aren't there any enemy machines. Was this a MIB situation or was this a Cabin In the Woods contest show with deadly force? Neither one really fit the situation at hand.

The sound of explosions, roars and shouts it at least 3 languages brought him back into reality and the fight.

"Quick think, how many dinos do you see?" "I make 13" she said. I had made 12 so that meant under 20 enemies.

"I got 12, so less than 2 dozen. Don't shoot yet and relax everyone is in their suits and can take at least a few hits. Please do as I a say, and do it quickly."

"Okay, Marcus san."

"Take a shooting position where your gun is supported by your shoulder like so." I demonstrated how she should use her seat for leverage, so in case I had to move rapidly she wouldn't get thrown. It was unlikely she would survive such a fall.

"Take a deep breath and firmly squeeze both triggers when you have a nice lock on an enemy. Remember when they run aim where they will be not where they are"

"Because you have a 2 second lag, yes I remember" Not for the last time that night or the many that followed I stifled the instinct to smack Benehime. I rather suspected the girl had received a good number of blows as I looked at her skin and not all of them might be from "fight club".

"Ok now see how they are spread out and going for the flanks. We are going to thin them out but don't fire if there are any of our people in the line of fire. We are shooting away from our people. I will hit anything that makes into the center.

Now to say I was impressed by our base was an understatement. Apparently, someone had had enough sense to rip out some kiosks and stack them in a roughly semi circular crescent pattern on either side of a solid looking concrete rain shelter. Further they had some people on the roof with rifles providing some surveillance and potential cover fire. The cycle was sitting in the center. Overall I would seriously congratulate whoever organized that, because it was excellent use of time and materials as far as I could tell.

The execution of the defense could use a bit a work though. Even without the element of surprise the raptors proved themselves somewhat effective infantry. The group of about 15 survivors were mixed bag. Some like the 3 yuppies froze, 4 dropped their weapons and began crying or praying. Which left about 8 people to actually carry out the defense of our fort. They responded to the reject Jurassic league at about 500 meters. Ironically it was the guy wearing sunglasses at night who got the first kill, He was one of the "roof snipers" and he pulped a dino from 430. At this everyone cheered and those who weren't gibbering wrecks opened up.

It was funny to see my fellow Americans shooting "gangsta" style, unfortunately recoil or not they couldn't hit shit. They weren't the only ones with horrible aim. In the space of time it took the reptoids to make it to 230 meters only 3 of them had bee hit. One was dead, one was missing a leg and another lost its eyes alongside the top of its head. It wasn't charging anymore but it was wandering around in circles.

It was then me and my apprentice entered the fray. We had decided to break into the one of the buildings and ride the bike up the escalator shafts an up to the 5 floor. It was enough height to make getting to us difficult, close enough that even we could land shots and roomy enough to dodge with the vehicle if we got surprised. I told here to shoot at the dinos coming in from directly ahead of her and to pick off the rearmost ones.

I started off the ball by removing the right thigh of an overfed compy 160 meters from the fort. Gal took the head off a northern saurid before it could jump. The competent roof sniper took the opportunity to finish mine and I think Rieka killed the blind bumbling one because it was facing her. My next shot missed, but the one after that exploded the chest of a Saurid, though Im sure I aimed for its head. Benehime plugged another two. At this point the dinos were both inside the "fort" area and split off some troops to deal with us. The screams of scared people were rampant.

One of the dinos landed on the roof to get at taste of the 2 snipers. Its tail smacked a rather skinny man in a leisure suit and dropped him to the floor before he could pull his pistol. He landed with a load scream, more surprised than hurt in the middle of the desperate fight on the ground floor. The roof raptor got his own surprise in that the knitted cap gentleman laterally bisected it with the telescoping sword while it was distracted.

It looks like the suits were good for more than just one or two hits. I saw man get head butted into the concrete wall and bounce like a rubber ball, leaving a man shaped crater, only to get up. At least it made him angry enough to grab both halves of the jaw of an approaching raptor and separate them. He then bent over and relieved himself of his lunch.

Though, it wasn't going all our way. The man who had fallen from the roof was soon caught between 3 of the beasts. He was bounced around 3 times by tail swipes and a few bites, but before anyone could get to him one of the beasts put its talons through his chest. The death of one their comrades stole the heart from many of the others and effective resistance was down to Rieka, the father and son duo, the knitted hat sniper and the 3 wanksta brothers. I noticed one of them, the one with the Pantara hat dropped his weapon and tripped over another trembling middle aged salaryman in his rush to escape. It would appear his luck didn't abandon him with is nerve as the dino who had made the earlier kill landed on the salaryman rather than him. That blow didn't kill him but it did break his shield the lizard than bit off his head. Pantara hat threw up and started crying.

*"Jesus save me, I'll give up weed and all the hoes. I'm sorry I slept with Devon's girl and his sister Sashone. Forgive me" The dino might have been amused by the 11th hour confessional, or maybe it just liked toying with its food because it let him finish before opening its mouth to take its third prize for the night.

Just in time to receive a haymaker punch to the side of its head from his friend with the Pantera gold teeth. A number of teeth flew as the Dino smashed into the shelter. While it was confused the man with golden bridgework shot it with his pistol and the thing's head flew into pieces.

"So that's why my sister was so angry with you, We'll deal later, but if your ass don't stop acting like a lil bitch I'll feed you to the next damn dinobird myself. We clear Trey?" The younger man looked up at his possibly ex friend and took the hand he was offered.

Having witnessed that little scene me and the gal set about dealing with the 4 lizards that were currently charging our way. They seemed to be getting faster as they ate up the 800 meters between us and them. I had just realized that the first button can serve as a lock on mechanism. I chose the one on the right as a practice. I held the xray over its chest until its heart thing changed colors then I depressed the second button and it blew into 3 pieces.

"Benehime, there's a better way of doing this, we can take them out without so much trouble". The other 3 exploded at the same time.

"Yes senpai you can lock onto more than one of them with the first trigger, It just came to me!" She gave me a devilish smile.

The greatest surprise of the night came from the odd father and son group. They had dropped their weapons the minute the dinos got within 40 meters. I thought they were going to do some kung fu like Kaisa sama. Nope they killed wiith their minds. I mean one minute there were 3 dinos dancing around them and the next the both made jedi hand movements and the dinos just dropped.

The wankstas, well I'll be generous as they were somewhat useful, realized their shooting skills were worse than their acting and just picked up heavy objects and swung them. When one of the dinos bit off the arm of a young teen, the brotha with the Pantera shirt struck the creature with a marble bench upside the head. It wasn't enough to kill it but Rieka followed it up with a point blank rifle shot to its head. The last dino had its tail shot off after it smacked Pantera shirt 12 feet in the air with it and it died when Pantera teeth drove metal rebar through its chest and into a concrete pillar.

With our immediate enemies dead I decided to get Benehime to the base and in a suit. I suspect that Kuranai and the old man were finally showing up, I hope his point business was done so we could get some answers. I also needed to get some control over the situation before the phyco could show up. I recognized the location his blip was at and the speed it was converging on the base. If he went off we stood a better chance of surviving him with concentrated firepower. I also noticed the blip behind him (the only yellow blip left) which could be mean he found something even he couldn't take alone. This was a bad situation no matter which horror scenario played out.

*Indicates dialogue I could not possibly have heard, but received second hand. It is included for the sake of humor and narrative prerogative.


	6. Chapter 6

Fort Kei after the battle

Up close the base was a jumble of gore, busted concrete and bodies. From what I could see there were no fewer than 2 fatalities 3 serious injuries and half a dozen suits were done. I learned then that when blue liquid came out of the suit it couldn't help you anymore and you lost your "powers".

I drove up to the center where Reika addressed me in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. " Hello Marcus sama. I know that was you two up there picking them off".

"Yeah, wish we could have got more though".

"I got more than you though" the brat whispered just low enough for only me to hear. I gave her a grimace and she shut up.

"How bad did we get hit?". Reika looks around and says "One man, one woman and a young boy are dead. 3 men 1 women wounded including broken bones and deep cuts. We only have 5 people with working suits. Maybe 1 of the wounded can still shoot a rifle. I have them laid up on benches and we are making them as comfortable as we can. I hope the vets take out the last one so we can get everyone out alive."

"You all did a damn good job. Can you introduce me to those two miracle workers" It turned out the two psychics were just mentor and mentee and not related at all. The older red orange head was Kenzo Sakata and his tomato pupil was Hiroto Sakurai.

"Thanks to you a lot of lives were saved".

The younger one said "We still lost too many, our attack range isn't that far and we cant shoot too well yet". Kenzo nodded.

"To tell the truth most us can't, but you both showed courage and never gave up. So exactly what is it you do? TK, mind reading, magic?" I was curios as to their range of powers.

Kenzo "We can effect things on a molecular level, but we have to be close to pull stuff like crushing hearts or causing a stroke".

Sakura looked uncomfortable and stared at the floor for a second.

I though a minute "Is it possible for you to reset broken bones, put limbs back together or stitching together veins? I mean if you can pull them apart..."

Kenzo answered " It might be possible for a doctor or a nursing student to do that, but we don't have medical training".

Thinking for another few seconds he then said "However stopping blood flow, or slowing a heart rate, or keeping bones from collapsing a lung seems simple enough". He motioned for his pupil and went to help the wounded.

At this point the third bike rolled in and Kurano and the old man semi stumbled off, both a bit worse for wear. "There's only one left" He took a look around "Damn, what happened here, I came back here as fast as I could"

Reika walked up to him "Kurona san I'm happy you lived, did you get the points you need? We all need you to get out of this mess. We have 3 dead and 4 wounded. Marcus san has the psychics stabilizing the wounded. Fort Kei is down to 5 working suits, not including Marcus san and Benehime. I did the best I could, but we lost so many."

She began to cry and started looking depressed. "Tell me what to do, there's one coming this way and I know its bad if the madman isn't fighting it." She started sounding agitated.

"Kurana dono knows you are the reason all these lives were saved." I turned to him hoping he would play along and keep the heart of the team functional "Reika did a great job getting the fort Kei set up. The fire lanes set up a clear line of fire and she posted snipers on the roof. She even got everyone suited up. No one can expect salarymen and college kids to play Turuk or Rambo."

"Fort Kei? Kurana dono?"... He looked at me. I moved behind Reika and made a go along gesture. Kei shot me an ugly look, but he took a deep breath before addressing Reika.

"Look you did a great job dealing with these..things Reika but leave Izumi and that thing to me. Just get everyone someplace safe and don't get more involved".

The old man said "You don't have a suit and I saved you last time against those fire ball Rexes. at least let me come along".

"Fine, just you then"

Which is when lil pipsquek spoke up. "We should provide back up. WE sniped more than a few of those things from long range. If you have your points already we can kill the thing if you distract it. Of course I'm a better shot than Marcus sempai" She stuck her tongue out at me.

Kurano looses some of his composure then " Look, this isn't some kind of game. You sniped a few of those small ones, I'll bet good money what's coming this way is giant. Those guns wont kill it with one shot and the big ones can shoot big ass fireballs. You are a little girl and you aren't even wearing a suit."

He then turned to me and Reika "You two made me leader, fine, do what I say. Keep these people safe and let me and old man finish this. I don't want anyone else dying playing hero".

The gal was starting to chirp. She was likely going to point out he was almost as young as she was and didn't have a suit either. I put my hand on her shoulder and pressed gently while shaking my head.

"Fine, the 4 blips you see are the family of 3 and Kaiza dono. He beat the Kappe alien a few minutes ago and has a suit, sword, controller and pistol, the father also has 1 pistol. By the way do you have all the points you need?"

Kei Kurono nodded both in acknowledgment of the info and to answer my question. "Then my advice is wound the thing and let Izumi take the kill. Its not worth your life to deal with is brand of madness and tell Kaiza that as well. Also tell him that using weapons is a good idea no matter how good a fighter he is"

At the mention of the too handsome and tall psycho Kei's face tightened but he nodded again and set off with the old man at high speed.

"What bullshit is that, He's going to fight a big alien with no suit and no back up except for a crazy guy and some arrogant martial artist. You said this guy was important for what he knows and we are just listening to his brand of crazy. He isn't my dad!" Lil bit was frowning I cut her off.

"If you were in the bike with no suit and I flip over, you will die. I'm not a biker and if I have to dodge giant balls of fire you will be taking a dive, unless you are secretly a bosozoku (delinquent biker) and should be driving?" She shook her head "I'm not explaining that to your parents. I'm almost 17 and yes that's only a few years older than you but there's a difference. Not a lot but enough. Go and put on your suit" She looked at me funny for a minute then walked off "By the time I'm dressed he might already be dead and then we'll probably be stuck with that madman as the only vet, you know I'm right" She stormed off in a huff to find her box.

When she was out of sight with her box Rieka turned to me. "You really aren't taking her with you are you? because while I know you aren't letting Kei chan deal with this by himself you cant get overgrown brats get crushed by monsters."

"Hell no, I just need her busy for few minutes, take control of the other bike so our best gal doesn't follow and get everyone deep inside a building. Put some people on the roof to snipe whatever shows up. If its really big have them shoot the eyes. Hell put Benehime on that, it will make her feel important."

"Hold up why am I not coming, my suit works and don't tell me its because I'm a girl".

"Lets see, you are 1 of 6 working suits here and one of the few who will actually fight. You are also the only person outside of Kei that everyone will listen to without threats of violence and they respect your authority. Also those 3 fools stopped moving toward us. Maybe they got lost, maybe they are arguing. But after you get everyone settled someone has to take their suits and weapons to them. I know we are supposed to be sent back when this is over, but I don't trust everything I hear. Even from Kurono Dono's mouth". I waved a good bye then thought about it "Also hand me your rifle, I'm sure you have a few spares". She did and with that I peeled off.


	7. Chapter 7

**Kei and the Baldy**

"Do you think anyone will follow us" Baldy said looking around as he was riding shotgun.

"Oh someone will try to play hero, but this will be over before they can catch up. What I don't like is how Izumi can't finish whatever it is. That means it's nastier than him. Unfortunately, it hasn't eaten him yet".

"I've been meaning to ask you, what do you have against him? He seems a bit obsessed and he hit you more times than was needed. He even threatened Marcus sama for trying to get answers, and he was very polite to everyone".

"Don't get me started with Izumi and obsession, lets just say he won't let anything get in his way including human decency and we'll leave it at that for now. As for Marcus sama he rubs me kinda wrong".

"Why Kei sama? Marcus Sama hasn't done anything but try to keep people alive. He shared everything you told us. I suspect he was responsible for most of the defenses as well as the medical care. Not to mention he found the bike room and brought out the suits".

"Fine, but why did he set me up to take credit for all of it and make it seem like he's my lieutenant and I'm some kind of damn general? I'm probably younger than him even if he is bigger than me. He sounds more educated than he lets on too. People like that are manipulative and you can't trust them".

"Well I don't know him, but he makes logical points for everything he does. He wants to live and strong teamwork is the best way to survive. Also you are young but know more than anyone else, you are skilled in combat and you don't hesitate. You also care about getting people out of here in one piece. There is also the fact you are Japanese and male meaning people will accept you as leader more easily. Reika listens to you and most of them will listen to her. The giant, well you'd be stupid to get on his bad side. He also took your side against Izumi and made sure everyone else was warned about his problems. You don't have to trust Marcus sama, but please try to give him the benefit of the doubt".

"Fine, I won't judge him. He damn sure isn't Izumi. Well we should see whatever horror is waiting for us soon. By the way this scanner isn't perfect with what it shows us. Sometimes it gets the numbers wrong."

"I noticed.."

A loud Cry is heard followed by a crash.

"Little Ones, You have killed my children, You will pay!"

A too handsome man in a black suit clutching a Panda Bear was seen dodging a prehensile tail. On closer look that "tail" had eyes and two crescent moon blades growing from its chin and crown. A second later Izumi was flying through the air, his extendable sword going in the opposite direction; imbedding itself into concrete after cutting 2 security personnel in half.

Both riders exclaimed "Shit!"

The Mother Bear

"You will suffer for what you did!" Her long legs easily keeping up with the running man in the black suit.

A long tail flew across the ground wiping out 40 of the pathetic beings that thought they could rule this world forever. She had been willing to wait for others to wipe them out, while relaxing in the shadows replenishing her people's numbers. Eventually she would have to face the Adversary that chased them from her people's last world. Her group had decided to try this planet as it was the nicest one within range of her people's abilities.

They did not use ships, but manifested their powers in ways lesser minds could not conceive. Once many years ago a group of her people called this place home for a while. Unfortunately the planet was subjected to some form of attack by jealous neighbors. No one was ever able to prove who did it because communications were cut before and during the attack. But that weapon devolved the brains of everyone who was on planet at the time. The planet was quarantined until some cure could be found and administered.

What no one realized was said cure would come rapidly and with finality via a large asteroid that went unnoticed due to the arrogance of some watchmen. There were still legends to this day of the torments they were sentenced to. Most of her people had transitioned at that time and were spared, though the remains of many were "fossilized". How appropriate of these small ones to place the remains of their betters in shrines and honor them. It was why she chose this place for her first brood. She would have stayed here content and preparing to hold this world against all who would take it from her people. Once she had a good bridgehead she would open the link allowing the rest of their forces to arrive. Let the adversary make something of it!

But no, first some damn rogue geneticist and its toys, mockeries of her children, shows up to challenge her in her own nest! If that wasn't enough it brought those murderers in black suits. She would have stayed in her bed and let them kill each other, but they shot all her babies and her mate. This one fool in front of her, who only recently gained wisdom enough to attempt to flee for its pathetic life, actually strolled into her bedroom with his pet and cut her eldest children to pieces. Then it had the nerve to try and decapitate her as though her brain was in so obvious a place. It was insulting and arrogant. I made her anger boil over!

"Ahh! I will kill you all" Her tail then smashed another 7 men. They were so pathetic they couldn't even see how easily she destroyed them. The fact that she was leaving obvious prints and the pattern of her attack should let them know enough of her nature. However these small ones and their small minds never let them rise above such petty concepts as vision in the low electro magnetic spectrum.

No, matter she would kill all here and get back to preparing the way. She was able to change the sex of her offspring and always kept a few unlaid eggs in her pouch. A few days for a new mate and the reclamation of her people's colony would continue.

But first things first. "Feel my wrath!"

**Pappa Wolf**

"The aliens are intelligent?" asked baldy.

"Some of them can speak, though I don't know if they are speaking our language or just mouthing words. A lot of stuff that Gantz puts us through don't make much sense" Kei responded.

"Well she implies we killed her children for no reason, so I assume she can think".

"To be honest I think a few of them are just dumb animals hiding here. The first one I met didn't do anything but mumble nonsense. Then few of us killed it and its parent killed my friend. I can't say for certain the father would have been peaceful if we had left it alone, though it might be possible to co exist". He paused and looked at his companion in a weary way.

However, I've seen what they do to innocent people without provocation or hesitation once they are discovered. Every other alien I've met fits in category 2. They killed people without suits or weapons; sometimes when they are crying and cringing on the ground. They don't care about killing people who can't even see them. I wonder how many murders happen that get written off as accidents. Each group of these things we run into seem to be breeding quickly. If they weren't up to something wrong, why would they hide and nest like that?"

The older salary man was quiet as he contemplated Kei's words.

It was then that Kei saw Izumi fly in the air after receiving a wind pressure wave. The bike swerved to avoid some debris and both noticed that a moaning black panda and human body parts were among the flying detritus.

"Ok we go in blazing. Izumi deserves to get eaten but the panda and those security men need our help. We can finish this talk later, agreed?" the Baldy nodded.

All around Japanese security officers wailed and ran for cover as pieces of concrete and limbs rain down on them. May believed it to be a bomb, but those brave souls continued to move toward the giant stegosaur kaiju they couldn't see.


	8. Chapter 8

The Proud Lion

So many dots went out. He couldn't believe those losers managed to get kills with their own hands. Izumi though about it, Kei didn't have a suit, but he probably told a few people to wear theirs. If he took weapons they might have held their own against the velociraptors. Still didn't explain how fast some of those dots had been moving. If someone had been paying attention they might have seen him walk into the other room, but he had closed the door behind him slowly. Wait that black kid did had got him talking with flattery and he was smart enough to listen to him.

So that meant that Kei had a bike and weapons and at least 2 people with suits. That explained why the yellow dots in the north went out, a man on foot couldn't travel that fast even in a suit. There were some yellow lights in the east that were surrounding a few walking dead a few minutes ago and they had gone out within seconds. It was probably the black kid, what's his name, using them as bait. Izumi wondered if he figured out how to cloak as well and had played with the one that had lasted a few minutes longer. The large group off the right of him had finished off an attack too. Probably he and Kurono had each taken a bike and were sniping. He knew that Jarol whatever his name was, was too smart to try and get close to these things. He hadn't fucked with the big points, so as long as he knew his place he could keep breathing. Kurano wasn't important either though the next time he tried his patience he'd finish him off.

He was contemplating how to best make use of all the new bait, as next round they would all probably be wearing their suits. It might actually be better that way, most of them couldn't shoot straight if they even bothered trying to defend themselves. Likely 3/4ths of them would quiver in fear after wetting themselves. The monsters would take a few bites and Izumi would get all the points. He would just have to school the newer hunters who proved themselves fit to survive, at least enough to keep the trash mobs busy while he went after the big points. Anyone who challenged him, well he knew how to deal with them.

His revelry and plots were cut short as a 4 legged giant, resembling a blade bearded Stegosaurus rose from the pile of bodies in front of him. "So what exactly are you?". The eyes on the weird lizard opened as its height continued to increase.

"Tell me little one, why did you kill my children?".

Izumi had had said enough words to human walking dead for one day, and was not in the mood for speaking with an alien one. So he whipped out his pistol and rifle and started shooting. his weapons were somewhat less than effective, only making 3 foot deep and 7 foot diameter holes. Eventually they would work, but that was not time Izumi had for the creature swung its tail and wrecked the space Izumi was just holding. "Yep, that's my que to leave" he said. He could lure the thing outside, cloak and find its weak spot while it was busy attacking someone else. It was a strategy that had paid off many times before.

Izumi lost his rifle due to the pressure wave or debris being thrown around. He landed in a summersault and sprinted to where the amorous bear was hiding. He fired three rounds into the wall in front of him, and put the the fairly useless weapon back in his holster. For some reason he picked up the bear with his free arm and kicked the weakened wall. He was outside when he activated his cloak. He saw the roof split open with a roar, and saw the head of the beast swivel out towards him.

He tossed the bear a good 8 feet fairly gently. It had the good sense to run in the opposite direction as opposed to hugging him tighter than his girlfriend did. Izumi always knew that most animals were smarter than most people, he now had unnecessary proof. He didn't have anything against the bear, and hoped it survived. Of course giving the giant monster another thing to chase would coincidentally increase his odds of survival.

The giant Kaiju wasn't having any of that and swung its tail right at him. So it could see him, or smell him. Izumi made a last minute course correction and avoided the swing. Extending his katana he chopped of the thing's tail about 1/3 of the way from the base. He didn't see the neck until it slapped him. Izumi felt that hit, even though he had thankfully dodged the chin blade and his suit was intact he would be sore until he got back to the Gantz room. His head turned to see that ant Kurono and the bald old man in a suit. They were trying to steal his kill. He needed to get back on his 'A' game. "Shit" escaped from his lips.

Kei and Suzuki's Gantz cycle

"Those doomed men are brave" The old man spoke "They are heading into death and still won't break, reminds of what our boys were like back in the day, except their reasons aren't based on lies".

"Focus, Suzuki san. We can talk war stories and patriotism later. I want you to drive around that thing's legs. I'll shoot it a few times to get it to follow us away from those people. Then I'll find a way to finish it"

"Like with those fire breathing Rex's"

"Except this time none of us will fall off!"

"From you lips to the Kamis' ears Kurono kun"

With that Kei started firing his guns rapidly at the big thing. He tried aiming at its head, but for some reason the thing dodged almost all his shots. Worse it stomped the ground hard enough for the cycle to wobble and almost spill him from his seat again.

As they risked getting closer Kei was able to make shots on the body and legs, but they did much less damage than to the other things he had fought today. At this rate he wouldn't be able

While he was doing as much damage as horse fly to an elephant the creature was becoming enraged.

"Are you the little ones that murdered my children?" It roared as it smashed anther dozen first responders.

It was then Izumi came back into the fray. He ran picked up his sword with his right hand made some kung fu gesture with the other and tried the flowing water cut on the things neck. The creature moved like a whirlwind, it's neck telescoping at odd angles and shredding a great deal of the surrounding turf, statues and people still moving in to provide aid at what they assumed a terrorist attack.

Izumi' sword bounced off it skin 4, 8, 10 times. Then somehow he found the grain of its scaly hide and separated its head. Everyone present was still for a moment, then the head landed on Izumi pinning him to the ground. The trunk just stood for a few minutes before falling to a kneeling position.

"So is that it then?, should we help dig Izumi out?" the balding man asked "His dot didn't go out and with our luck its unlikely he will suffocate before we shuffle out of here. We only have about 12 minutes to go. Let him rot. He wanted the big kill, let him enjoy it!"

As this continued another wave of first responders including unarmed emt, mostly young women and older doctors showed up. They were starting to check the casualties for signs of life and headed towards the building the creature had wrecked chasing Izumi.

It was then the trunk stood back up and a series of eyes formed all along the underbelly of the creature.

"Are you the little ones who slayed my children?" echoed across the area. It was so vibrant it knocked down the bystanders who couldn't see or hear it. Those who survived would likely call it an aftershock of the non existent but soon to be reported rare simultaneous terrorist bombing and earthquake.

Kurono thought quickly "Yes it was me and me alone. If you want your revenge come and get it you ugly lizard" He fired at the momentarily stationary trunk, putting out a few eyes. He barely needed to tap Suzuki for him to put pedal to the medal away from there. The behemoth set on their tail at break neck speed.

The last samurai

Despite what others, his new black compatriot among them might believe, Kaiza was not some glory obsessed fool stuck in the old ways for no other reason save tradition. His life was defined by purpose, to be the best at what he did; which was the pursuit of physical martial excellence. To that end he had spent practically every moment he was not eating or sleeping training in as many forms of unarmed combat as he could master. He had forsaken his higher studies, romance and some would say his humanity for that goal. He had challenged the Kappe alien to mortal combat instead of shooting it for what he saw as justifiable reasons.

Kaiza knew he could take "Kappe" based on quick observations. First the little firebrand had actually been able to injure it without a suit. She had actually forced it to call for back up to deal with a pudgy little 14 year old girl! If she was wearing her suit she would have killed it before it could grow. He suspected it was that same suit that allowed Kurono sama to defeat him earlier. The pieces began to fit and fell into place after he slammed Marcus sama to no effect earlier today.

Second, there would come a time when he would have no weapons save for this suit. If his life would depend on a tool it must be tested under a controlled environment. This Kappe alien had shown no abilities aside from growing after getting injured and superior strength. It would make a good test opponent to get a handle on how strong future "boss" like enemies would be as well as his improved capabilities. It had no available back up and the weapons Marcas sama left, should he need them, were too small and unsuited for Kappe's hands.

He had seen Marcas san shoot, and while he was competent he did not believe he could kill the creature without risking the youngsters life. The creature seemed to have a one task focus but he would rather not have innocent blood on his hands. Kaiza always entered every conflict with the acceptance his life might end, but such a choice applied to him and his opponent alone. He was confident in his strength and skill would completely occupy the Karre.

Kaiza also needed to gather some "points". Marcus sama had no idea of what these points were used for, but if they had impact on his life then he would gain a few.

His thoughts ended the minute the Kappe made its move. It threw 4 surprisingly skilled rabbit punches to his face and a straight jab at his chest that sent Kaiza a few feet back without knocking him down.

"Hear Me! Don't look down on Me!" it bellowed.

Kaiza shook his head. That blow might have broken his ribs or even killed him had he not put on his suit. He would thank or apologize to Marcus sama should the man survive his own challenges. Kaiza charged and ducked the right hook of the creature. As there was a time limit and others might need help he would not draw this out. He caught the creature's arm and broke it at the elbow joint. This was followed by a straight punch to the creatures distended stomach right in its extended belly button and concluded with an uppercut strong enough to generate a loud cracking sound. The Kappe was sent 30 feet back and about 8 feet in the air to land among the remains of its pets.

"One does not need to look down on opponents who send attack dogs on young women, for they can go no lower!". Over all, it was not the most dissatisfying fight he had had. He began to walk over to where the weapons were; without doubt Marcus sama would want them returned. As he was half way to them he heard another sound.

"Listen.. " The creature's arm had reset and it was standing tall one more. Or rather it was taller by about 7 feet making it about 18 feet high and bit thicker. "Don't look down on me"

It charged Kaiza. When it got within range Kaiza side stepped, jumped and dropped an axe kick on the back of its head sending his straw hat flying. Kare's face hit the grassy turf. Not satisfied Kaiza stood on the creature's back grabbed its head and twisted Kappe's neck 180 degrees so that it faced him.

He then walked the rest of the way to where the weapons were. He checked his controller to tell him where to meet the others and noticed that the yellow marker near him was still active. He wondered if there another boss at the same time he heard the sound of bone snapping back together.

"Listen," The damn thing was 34 feet tall now, "Don't Look down on Me!" At this point Kaiza was pissed. He charged the thing telegraphing a drop kick and when he got within range the Kappe made ready to smash him. That's when Kaiza flipped his sword and cut his arms off. First the one that was coming in to break his head, followed by the other one. Then he cut his legs off above the knee and kicked him on his back.

Kaiza then extended the blade and cut the things head off from 8 feet away. For good measure he cut the rest of the trunk into 6 pieces. He looked down on his scanner and saw the yellow pip fade out. He might not very skilled with swords and preferred to fight with his own body, but he did train Kendo in his youth.

Kaiza reset his sword and attached it to his belt alongside the controller and pistol. Then he bowed toward his opponent.

"Ordinarily I would continued to used my techniques until I found one that would put you down. However, there are people in danger that I agreed to help and I needed to end this quickly. My apologies".

Regardless of his annoyance at resorting to using a weapon, he bowed toward the remains of his stubborn opponent and ran double time toward the last yellow pip.


	9. Chapter 9

The lone Ranger

As I sped toward my first true boss raid I felt so many conflicting emotions. Beside the fear and horror at the death I just witnessed and caused, that is. Yes, I was actually helping to save lives and defending others against clearly evil opponents. On the other hand I was just shanghaied into what looked like a black ops army of slaves. I mean why did they pick a bunch of students and civilians? Didn't they realize most of us would break instead of fighting? We were lucky many men would fight to protect or impress a woman especially a celebrity model. But that seemed to be luck of the draw and social evolutionary response kicking in instead of a premeditated plan on the part of our kidnappers.

Then there was the bare essence of the situation. I mean I was deeply offended at the slavery implications as an American Black man, yet at the same time to be chosen to fight aliens is kind of every otaku's/nerd wish fulfillment.

First thing first I decided. There was no manual on how to deal with a giant dinosaur monster, but there was no avoiding reality. I had the same weapons Izumi had, but he was running away from it. Yes he could have been toying with it but he didn't want others to steal his kills and he had gotten pretty violent about it. Kurano didn't have a suit, but Izami knew he could still shoot.

None of those facts filled me with confidence. Well I figured I wouldn't get much from that line of thought so I withheld judgment until I saw it. There was no point in getting scarred or psyching myself into cowering in a corner. Kurano said he had his points already, so I could just snipe kill the thing and if worst came to worst I would just take a few shots to distract the thing while someone else got the kill.

I felt it before I saw or heard it. There was a rumbling that affected my driving. Whoever called dinosaurs terrible thunder lizards was not joking. Ahead of me pushing 40 km per hour were Kei sama, Suzuki san and 80 feet of angry lizard with full metal alchemist homunculi eyes all down its belly. I noticed that it was swerving somewhat and every few seconds I would see some bloody patch explode. I had a few choices. I could drive towards the thing or try and snipe from my position.

Obviously I took out my first rifle and started firing at the belly. The more eyes it lost would probably make it less likely to be able to fight effectively. I might even get lucky and kill it. We were down to 10 minutes and I really didn't want to find out what happened if enemies were still alive at the end of a "round".

The creature's eyes actually moved, I could feel as well as see the irises switch to my direction. "That's not good" I said aloud. I didn't know if my bike was actually faster than that thing as Kei was only barely in front of it as it was.

In the danger zone

"What is that madman doing?" Kei asked.

"It seems he is trying to draw its attention".

"I'd say its working, I hope he knows what he's doing". Lets help him gets some better shots. Kei said as he managed to put out another 2 eyes. "Drive to the left in a loop and see what the thing does!"

The creature's speed increased and they started driving more erratically due to its yells and the shaking of the ground.

The relative value of the high ground

" You little ones think you are smart. Your tricks won't escape my eyes. I will eat all of you!" it bellowed loud enough for me to hear as far away as I was.

And with that it made an impossible leap. It might not have been able to keep up its pace for long but a sudden burst of speed allowed to overtake the bike and land not to far away. It missed but it broke the ground up enough to cause the Kei's cycle to either stop or crash. Suzuki did his best to bleed speed but the cycle did a tumble and Kurono sama flew without wings.

Fortunately for him the creature had broken the ground which was mostly soft dirt following today's light rain. Kurano san had landed in some muddy puddle and even though it looked like he wasn't moving I assumed he was still alive. Which I confirmed when I looked at my controller and noticed 2 red pips were still in front of me. There were 2 more inbound, Kaiza and Izumi. Of course staying alive for the next 2 minutes was more my problem than a psycho or the wannabe martial arts action star.

I was knocked out of my bike by the shock of that jump. Logically I could have just pushed the thing back up and ran for dear life. However, it just showed me it could jump and I was not a motorcycle driver. Hell I had barely started practicing for my driver's license. I was not dodging this thing on the road in any way. Worse it probably would just kill Kei and I'm dam sure Izumi wouldn't be as helpful a second time.

Shit, that meant I needed to kill or incapacitate it before it got to me. Time slowed down and I forced myself to think. The monster was covered in wounds, but where could I hit that thing that would slow it down or stop it. It had stopped it charge after the jump either because it had injured its legs or because it was tired after all that running.

I put down one rifle walked slowly forward and took a shooting stance on one knee. The creature was at an impasse. "Now you hurt little one. Good. Why did you attack my children?". Kei was almost on his feet and saying something I could not hear. That's right keep him talking I whispered. Now all he had to do was piss what I assumed was a her off enough to charge, I not miss my shot and then him avoiding getting squashed and make end things.

At some point the alien screamed "Murderer!" and charged at the shaky teen. For some reason the Baldy wasn't shooting. However, I wasn't waiting. I took aim at the thing's left front leg. It already had damage so it was the best bet. I didn't and still don't know if "real" dinosaurs had a measured gait but this thing did. At about 300 meters from Kei I started putting shots in the back of its knee. It ate up the distance quickly, but at 120 meters I saw effect, apparently it was so mad it didn't notice the damage until it was too late. 80 meters from Kurono sama its ligaments gave way and it flipped over on its left side missing the somewhat wobbling Kei.

Kurono sama, was less wounded than he appeared because he then closed the distance as the thing tried to stand up again and using 2 rifles (so that's what happened to Suzuki's gun) he blew its rear legs off at the knees, followed by its front legs. He then said something I would later know as "Tae I will return" before blasting the thing in its weak spot.

With all enemies down we had about 10 minutes or so until beam out. Kei was looking in my direction withh mild annoyance (I could tell with my scope). I wasn't dealing with his shit, so I decided to head over to the family of three and meet up with Reika and whoever she came with. I could deal with Izumi and Kei chan later. With a wave of my rifle and a bow I got back on my bike. As I was driving that way I said fuck it and started looking at the other buttons on my controller. Among them was the kanji marked stealth mode.


	10. Chapter 10

Something strange in your neighborhood

Damn I wished I knew about this mode from the beginning. I mean its likely the dinos could smell or taste me anyway, but every bit helps in mortal combat.

Anyhow I decided I would stay in cloak and see what everyone else was thinking. It was likely that anyone other than Izumi or Kei could do this. If the others had figure it out they would have used it by now. Unless he could see me in this mode I could avoid the madman sneaking up on me and ride out the rest of the clock.

I pulled up to witness The red head magician and Pantera shirt having a friendly discussion with Kaiza and the family of 3. I thought that I really needed to get the rappers names.

The father was in his suit, his wife and child were not. As usual she was arguing.  
"Umi, why are you going along with these people? (I rolled my eyes as I'm sure dark shades was as well) They are not the police. We should have followed all the emts and security that went by a few minutes ago".

"Nara, these kind people explained that they fought a giant monster and most of those people are dead. Plus you saw how we can't talk to people. They don't even see or hear us. If we had gone further the way we were trying to walk home we would have blown up like so many others".

"How do you know that? This is probably a scam or a tv show and we were kidnapped (her voice got even more shrill to my suprise)"

"You saw those.. those things and I see the map their controller has. Honey they were locked in the same room as us, and some of them died fighting these things. That man right there closed my wounds in front of you".

"Daddy, Mommy I want to go home!"

"Son be strong we will leave this place in 5 minutes at the most" The father stroked his son's head.

"How do you know that, how do you know these people aren't in on it? They could be criminals, hell they probably are and that uniform means you are part of their gang. You could be taking the fall for all this.."

"Nara please stop scaring the boy, the fighting is over. I'm wearing the suit because it makes me stronger. You saw me pick up the rock. You should put one on yourself and give one to our son".

"Oh daddy I want to be a super hero too, so I can protect mommy from the bad dinosaurs like you and that nice black man did".

"No you may not. Those suits are not descent and I won't let those perverts look at my body like that. You should be ashamed.."

I didn't get to listen to more of this because 4 gentlemen dressed like modern day beach bum Yakuza showed up. At first I was thinking they were just there to size the tragedy up for possible exploitation, like their kind always does. Then I noticed 2 more things, they were staring at my compatriots and they were armed. They hadn't done anything yet, and they were not on my radar but I had a bad feeling.

Then Kaiza sama noticed them and tapped the foot of the red headed mystic. He turned and coughed. At that point everyone turned facing the incoming gentlemen. The Pantera shirt rapper held his weapon in his hand but was not aggressively pointing it. As they got closer I noticed that they looked human in every way except for their fangs. Silently I shuddered thinking the Japanese gangsters started copying that style too.

At that point I reached for my weapons and started wondering who I should shoot first. Damn only 2 minutes before we get to leave and this shit starts.

"Hello hunters!" said the man with blond hair courteously making use of English for the benefit of the American.

"I think you are making a mistake, me and my husband have nothing to do with any hunters. They tricked him into putting on that stupid suit." she turns to him "Please take it off now. You can discuss hunting with these men, we are going home" said the wife.

"Dad I think those are bad men, they look like Yakuza" said the little boy in a fearful tone. His mother shushed him.

"Take off the suit quick! I told you they were criminals" The husband made no move, and stopped the wife from messing with his buttons. He pushed his son behind him, and gripped his pistol loosely. I could tell he didn't like the look of their eyes.

"You know about this Gantz business?" said the red headed psychic "Why did they take us? Please explain what this hunting business is about. None of us want to be involved in this." He stared at the Black man, turned back to the leading thug and said "I am Umaki Tenzo who are you? Perhaps we can help each other."

"Yes you can definitely help us. We traveled a long way to meet you and you see we are... thirsty"

"Sir these men are thieves of some sort and lying his name is not Umaki, they are liars in some game dont lump us in.." "Nya calm down and be quiet" The husband snaps, finally having enough of her bullshit. Not that it mattered.

"Not that it matters" said another man brown haired "man" in his near 30's with a black suit with flames on it and skull motif.

"Stop playing with them, I haven't had a good fight in ages. Nothing like it before a good drink. That one on the end should be good for both" says the far left one wearing white with yellow starburst mon scrollwork, referring to Kaiza san who returns his cool stare.

The 2 minute mark counted down, all we had to do was stall them a bit more and we would be out of here.

"Lets do it wild west style on 3" said the red headed fanged man on the end with a Katana in hand, with a small gesture a 45 magnum grew from his hand. It actually grew from his hand.

"Don't forget to use your glasses to scan for cloaks" said the blonde. "They are complete noobs. I'm counting by the way" said red hair.

The psychic said "fighting us is a mistake" and the brother looked at them and said," listen we should talk about this"

The last vampire, one wearing Blue with a deeper blue shark motif turned to his friend "See at least 2 of them have spirit. This is what I am talking about , 1, 2," He then materializes a compact mini uzi from his fingers "3!" and all hell broke loose.

I was still in shock at this situation. They looked like humans, but could see us when no one else could, they can turn their bodies into weapons and were implying they drink blood.

I knew I would regret not shooting as soon as it was clear they meant to do us harm for the rest of my life. The man with the uzi put 3 bullets into Nara. Before her body hit the floor the leader had closed the distance to drop kick Kenzo 7 feet in the air before he could do anything about it.

The father seeing his wife hit the floor dropped his gun to catch her. As he did about 4 bullets bounced off him. Bullets were also bouncing off the Pantera rapper who fell on his rump dropping his rifle in surprise. The red head shot Kaiza 4 times to no effect before entering sword range. Kaiza on the other hand did not reach for his sword instead blocked red's attack at the elbow and struck him with his back. The vamp dodge most of it with a flip but his right leg took bone crushing force and he landed on the ground.

Before Kaiza could stomp him the leader threw his sword at his torso which Kaiza dodged before entering hand to hand combat. They seemed equally matched which let me focus on the others.

So I learned something new about the suits, they were bulletproof. I was about to finish the red head vampire whose foot was snapping back into place. Then I noticed the last vampire ran up to and stand over the little boy. He was enjoying the look of fear in his father's eyes and that did it for me. As he lifted the child with one arm and motioned as if he was going to bite him his whole lower left side was open. I picked my shot position to cover the part of his body that made a circle covering his gut, groin and left thigh. I noticed there was a sound as soon as I fired. It was similar to the one my cloak made when it powered on.

A split second before my second trigger was depressed the blond yells "Shit we have a cloaker!" These "vamps" were fast but not enough. That and he chose to dodge to the wrong side. This vamp, the one in blue shark pattern turned into the shot while keeping hold of the child at the same height. So instead of saving his lower half he set himself up for a Darth Maul. The child was tossed to the floor in pain as shark man split in two just below the navel. The child who probably had a broken bone from how roughly he was grabbed yelled "daddy!" in agony.

The father snapped out his fugue beside his wife's corpse and entered a rage. His pistol was in his hand again and he was shooting at everything not wearing a Gantz suit. The first to get it was the half of a vampire in blue who was still moving. His chest exploded covering him and his son in gore. He then sent a few 'rounds' in blondie's direction. Both he and Kaiza were able to dodge them.

By this time Pantera had gotten off his duff and took aim at White suit. His aim was shitty but at least he was still rational enough to mind friendly fire. The psychic had landed in the dirt and was seemly torn between fleeing and joining in. Then he started translating, so at least that much info was true. I was visible at this point and trying to keep Red hair from flanking Kaiza. If he went down everyone in that group was dead.

I myself seriously contemplated bugging out. The look blondie gave me promised retribution and all I would have to do is stay away from them long enough to translate. However, it seemed we had the edge. If blondie was able to see us on missions he was going to be a problem later on, so it was better to remove him now. His guns couldn't hurt us but ours could hurt him. Also between Kaiza and two guns we should have been able to finish them.

Having made my choice I decided the best bet would be to snatch the kid and remove him as a leverage for the "vamps" I switched to my pistol and ramped full throttle towards the battle.

Those vampires were not a joke.

At this point the universe reminded me of one of the maxims of combat. "a battle was a situation where two commanders each thought they had a decisive superiority and one was wrong".

"Looks like he fell for it, I owe you 6 dollars" said the white suited vampire as he raised his pistol and aimed at the kid, the pantera brotha opened up on him with his rifle but only tagged his boot. I tried to aim at him with my pistol but speeding and shooting accurately without hitting a friendly was beyond me. I made him dodge though. I was about 50 meters from the kid, honestly if what they said was true a few broken bones wouldn't much matter, when a medium sized hole exploded from his forehead.

At this the boys father went bezerk and started shooting at the red head, unfortunately the Pantera brotha was now behind him with predictable results. He collapsed on the ground like he'd been poleaxed and dropped his weapon. There was blue fluid coming from his suit, however he wasn't dead.

The father was shocked, he didn't meant to hit the man trying to save his son's life. "Im sorry" he said, moving toward the fallen man, his weapon half lowered. That was all the White suited vamp needed to disarm him and do some fancy move that left his arms under the fathers neck. The next thing I knew his suit was leaking blue and White suit was burying his fangs in his neck. The Pantera was still in the fight though, he reached for his pistol to cap the man feeding on our compatriot. This was when red head shot him twice in the back.

I wasn't going to hit shit driving how I was so I slowed down and turned while 20 meters from the action. Before I could complete the maneuver to either take some supporting shots or run like hell the battle shifted again.

Red hed landed a kick on Kaiza (who was distracted fighting blondie) that dropped his shield, send him 20 feet away and left his suit leaking fluid.

White suit stood facing me daring me to shoot, while the father's blood dripping down his chin. "Ok shin makes sure you get all of this on camera so we can review it later. I love eating noobs".

Blondie turned to face me while waking toward the brother on the floor who was still twitching. "Don't you want to save him? Can't do it from over there." His friend turned the camera toward me. Shit if they get my id they can track me anywhere were the only thoughts going through my mind.

"We promise it wont hurt much" (they started laughing).

Then Blondie said "fuck! again jump!". Then Izumi's blade moved like lighting. Red head lost his left foot and right hand, the one holding the camera. I made sure to hit the camera once it landed on the floor.

Blondie turned to me "You think I need a photo to find a black man with blue eyes in Japan?". I didn't answer as there was no reason to let him know what my voice sounded like as well. He turned to block Izumi's sword with his own, "unlike these two fuck heads I wear my contacts and keep my head on a swivel old friend". Izumi's cloak ended and he engaged him full on. I turned my gun on the white suited vampire to keep him from flanking. At this point Saiza got up to rejoin the fight but stopped midway, displaying the strip teleportation effect. Good if we translated we could live long enough to find these fucks when we had the advantage!

Izumi, having less intelligence discipline (or likely just that arrogant) decided to speak. "Old friend? I don't know you dead man". The vamp did a fancy spin that knocked Izumi's sword to the left.

"I'm afraid we've met before". Then Izumi blocked a thrust and in the same movement bisected the red vampire.

"Again I find that hard to believe, as you are still alive". As they dueled I was picking my shots. My first was aimed just below where white suit would land. I got a small piece of his thigh and that kept him from jumping Izumi despite having injuries that would have killed or at least incapacitated human soldiers twice over.

Somewhere in between sword clash 9 and 10 the Pantera brotha translated. I couldn't spare a look at my controller but I knew for a fact we almost all gone by then.

Damn, I owed this fucker now and the worst part was I got the feeling we needed his skills more than ever. I switched targets to blondie and he gave me a nasty smile before materializing a knife and tossing it straight at my chest.

One minute I was in my chair the next I was in the grass. I heard 12 more clashes and felt a large welt in my solar plexus. I got up and noticed the sounds of battle were gone and blue fluid was leaking from my suit. Izumi was frozen in place, but neither vamp made a move to cut the parts of him that hadn't left yet. That could only mean a 1 thing, once the process started nothing you did to the body mattered.

The vamps turned in my direction. I knew from watching Kei you could plug the controller in the bike so that's what I did. Looks like I was the only one still living on this side of the park and only 3 more people were still here. I turned to the vamps and stared blondie in the eye (he wasn't going to forget me anyway) and made a L shape with my middle finger and thumb and drew my thumb across my throat. The vamp in white materialized another weapon. I activated the cloak as I sped away. I did catch 2 bullets before I left their range, one in the arm and another in the opposite shoulder. However I learned 2 things. Gantz bikes are bulletproof at least against handguns and vamps are not faster than a Gantz bike.

I wont lie, getting shot hurt but I had only travelled for about 29 seconds bore the beam got me.

I came back to awareness in the Gantz room to the sounds of arguments. I also received a hand up and then a punch to my stomach, courtesy of our favorite team psycho Izumi. "Congratulations on surviving. I told you to stay away from my kills. Consider that a friendly reminder".

"Next time I'll just let them gang up on you ass whipe!" came out of my mouth before I could rethink my words and tone.

"I don't need help. Not from you or anyone else. Also don't expect help from me either. Those who can't survive on their own should not."

I was on my feet with three punches and a sweep in two seconds. All which he blocked and jumped over. I then blocked a backhand, turned aside an axe kick and delivered a fade punch to his jaw. That was the end of the fight because he landed a three piece and I hit the wall.

"He pulled his extended blade. "Enough! Or do you want to finish this?" I got up deliberately slowly. My suit was still good and my pistol and sword were still attached to their holsters. I kept my hands clear of them and my lips curled upward. Yes Izumi likely could put his blade through me before I reached them, but I was smiling because I wouldn't need to.

You see, most people including this eclectic group won't stand up for a grown man who won't help himself. Especially not against someone who they have reason to believe is untouchable by "normal" men like themselves. However, present yourself as someone who will help keep you alive in a struggle against someone who doesn't give a shit about anyone else and is unstable and that changes things. Further, show those same people that said a man isn't invincible and others will loose a good portion of that fear.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" Izumi turned his head to face the X-rifle pointed at him by the small orange girl. Her hands were not wavering in the slightest. From another side were the 4 Pantera Brothers who joined her in pointing their weapons in his direction.

The others were clutching their weapons, except for Kaiza who only stared around the room like a cobra. The eyes of Rieka and 5 others were on Kurono as if waiting for orders. The small psychic was flanked by his mentor and they whispered to each other and likely were communicating with telepathy for all I knew.

Kei did nothing, but was staring at Izumi. If he wanted him dead this would be the best time to make his move. There was no where for him to dodge with the low ceiling at it was even money that even someone as skilled as Izumi could even kill anyone (likely me) before he got wasted.

"The suit can take one hit from an X pistol before it breaks, so Izumi you will have to strike down 5 targets in different directions and the gal is a better shot than me. You will need two hits to break each suit as well. She is behind you, the rappers are less than 6 feet away so at least half of their shots will hit at least one of us, and I won't miss. I also don't think you have anyone here who likes you enough to use 100 points to bring you back".

Izumi retracted his sword and entered into a more relaxed stance. He then stared at me, smiled and relaxed. " I made my point, that's all I have to say to any of you. I just want to get my score and go home".

I slowly walked out of the crossfire and opposite the 4 rappers. Izumi shrugged, put his weapons away in the Gantz rack and sat in a corner. The rest put their weapons down but keep them within arms distance.

The golden tooth one said "Ey man we don't shoot that badly".

"It was a joke. Thank all of you. I never insult people who are trying to save my life, unlike some others." Izumi rolled his eyes, but said nothing. "but I caught two bullets escaping those things after they killed that family and I'd rather not take any more today."

"Least you didn't get shot in the back man" I nodded. Even though I had got shot in the back, I was running away and it doesn't sound as heroic as taking bullets defending a father. "Thought you were dead like the father". "Been shot before, takes more than two to put me down".

I turned around the group of newly bickering people to see Kei who said "Don't look at me, I want to smack you one too".

Before I could ask him anything else music started

The ball lit up and Kei said "We can finish our talk later, its time to distribute points" . Finally I would get to see what this point system was about.


End file.
